Use of Force Falling

What could be the reason?

• The number of police uses of lethal force is on the decline according to a new report from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

  Researchers with the school’s Cline Center for Advanced Social Research compiled data to track and identify the use of lethal force by officers throughout the country. They found that from 2021 to 2023 the number of such incidents fell by 24 percent nationally. The drop was about the same in Illinois.

  The report includes any incident in which police used a firearm, including those with nonfatal outcomes, as well as any other use of force that resulted in a death. But it doesn’t draw conclusions as to why the decrease is occurring.

Gee, could we form a few conclusions? How about these for starters:

• the constant anti-police drumbeat of the past half-decade has led to fewer police being hired;
• the fewer police being hired, the less backup there is, the less "specialized" units concentrating on high crime areas and high crime individuals, meaning few interactions with criminals;
• the lack of an incarceration penalty (no consequences) has led to a conscious decision to disengage by authorities who figure, "Why bother?" when the criminal is going to be out almost immediately;
• the needless, redundant and overreaching "oversight" that exists not to correct mistakes or improve policing, but to punish the tiniest infractions as harshly as possible, endangering not only continued employment, but actual freedom.

The end result would be a black mark upon an otherwise stellar career, resulting in job termination and making further employment in most fields unattainable.

Opinions?